Lock



July 14, 1925. 1,546,001

E. M. BENHAM ET AL LOCK Filed Aug. 5 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fk ff f// /f if c'. )fr BY ATroRNEY July 14, 1925. 1,546,001

E. M. BENHAM ET Al.

LOCK

Filed Aug. 5.r w24 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fk lNENTOR BY v ATroRNEY Patented July 14, 1925.

vUNF-TED STATES 1,546,001 lPA'rEfN-r oFFicE;

EDGAR 1v1. BENHAM, ornonwoonfnivn CHARLES M. man, 'or MADI'soNvILLn, onro,

Assrenons TO'THE'MOSLEB, LOC/K COMPANYQQF COVINGTON, KENTUCKY., A con- PORATION 0F OHIO. l

LOCK.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we., EDGAR M. BENHAM and CHARLES M. HIRN, both Acitizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at Norwood, inthe county of Hamilton and vState of GhiO, and at Madisonville,in the county kof Hamilton and State et Ohio, lhave invented Certain new and useful Improvements in Locks, of wliiclrtlie following is aspeciiication.

This invenzti'on'relagtes to locks and more particularly relates to locks which require Ythe manipulation of two keys to unlock the same, and which may be adjusted for diier- .ent keys without replacing'- cr altering the shape of the -tumblers In an applicatienf for limprovements in locksfiled .by Edgar M. Benham July 1l, 1921, Serial No. 483,674., and now Patent No. l,522,572,dated Jan. 13, 1925, there is disclosed a lock yhaving two setsotalternately overlapping trunblers commonly pivoted, one set being master tumb-lers Operable by a locking and unlocking key from one key tube'ofthe lock, VHand the other set of tumblersfbeing yguard tu-m'blers operable by a. guard key fromy another key tube. Both sets of tumblers .dog a stump on the bolt bardirectly by means of vrecessed noses on the tumblers. A lockof such construction cannot beconditiened for'otlrer keys without substituting one or `more n ewtumblers having vtheir `front recesses located difierently from the recesses of the 'removed tumblers.

In anv application filed by Edgar M: Benham April 26, 1922, for `improvements in changeable Icombination key locks, Serial No.' 556,709,1now Patent'No. 1,522,573, dated Jan, 13, 1925, there is Showna lockconstruction having similar tumbler arrangement `but instead of :the tumblers-directly clogging av stump on the boltplate .the tumbl'ers, or somefofrthern, are arranged to dog yfinger plates-which .are` adjustably mounted on the bolt plate,- so-that Aby adjusting these finger plates relatively ltoeach other l.and `to the bolt plate, vthe-hack may .be conditioned for different keys without-v 'disturbing the tumbler arrangement. Y Y

The principal object fof-this- 'inventio-n is to improveu` on said constructions-by :providing-a loc which is readilyy and easily changeable for different keys without re- -qu-iring substitution .of 'tumblers V'and V.atfthe same time eliminates the adjustable finger plates, or the like. A Afurther object oi this invention is to' provide a lock of the character described, 'and one which is simple, durable, sturdy and compact in construction. Other vobjects of thislr invention will lbe in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In accord-.ance Vwith this invention, the previous construction is retained comprising two separate sets of tumb'lers nested together in alternate overlapping relation, rand both sets have recessed noses arranged to' dog al stump on the bolt plate directly. One set of tumblers are master. tumbler-s having a Aplurality of perforations adjacent their rear `edges and are adapted to be piv- .oted at any one of these perforations on a removable pin, carried by the casing, thus permitting this pivot point of each tumbler to be varied independently of the other -tumblers The tumblers may bel conditionedforl operation by different keys by varying their poin-ts ofpivotafl engagement with the pin, and to this end means are provided for permitting the perforated rear :ends :of these tumbler-s to be adjusted relativelyV -toeach otherrand to the 'lock casing yby means' of anew key, when 'the pin is removed, so that by engaging the pin with the tumbler perforations in their new alignment these tumblersy `are conditioned for the new vkey without requiring these tumbler-s tobe removed from the lock or requiring the lock tobe taken apart. If desired in addition to these master tuinblers, there may be provided a set of guard tumblers. These guard tumble-rs vmay be similar indesign and) in manner of Voperation to the guard tumblers disclosed in said previous :application vSerial Non 483,674.

A1n order that `a clearer understanding of this' linvention `may be had, fattention is hereby directed to the ,accompanying Adraw- .ings forming a part of :this yapplication and illustrating one possible `embodiment of this invention. Referring tothe-drawings, Fig. lisa top elevation of a lock embodying this invention,- the lock being f in unlocked condition g- Fig.l 2 is a bottomelevationcf the same.; Fig. -i-tisv atop elevation of the `lock mechanism 'with the coverplate removed, showing the vmechanism1 in unlocked position, ithis View 'be-ing ,a sectional View taken similar to Fig. 3 showing the new key in place and the master tumblers ready to be engaged in their new position by the removable pin; Fig. 5 is an elevation of the interior of the lock with the tumblers removed, showing how the change key prevents full retraction of the bolt; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a guard tumbler separately; Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the lock and is taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 4 with the change key in place; Fig. 8 is a sectional view takenv on the line 8 8 of Fig. 1, also show.

ing the change key in place; and Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 99 of Fig. 1, but with the change key in place. Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, we provide a suitable casing for the lock mechanism, the casing comprising a box portion 1 and a cover plate or lid 2. The lid is provided with two suitable extensions or noses 8 and 4. The nose 3 rotatably steadies a key tube 5 for any regular key 6, and the nose l rotatably steadies a key tube 7 for a guard key 8. Inside the box, on its bottom, there is a slidable bolt plate 9 which has a bolt portion 10 protruding through a suitable perforation in the front end of the box ii. Bolt plate 9 has a slot 11 through which extends a post 12 which is secured to the bottom of the box 1 and whereby the rear of the bolt plate 9 is guided. Bolt plate 9 carries towards its front a stump 13 which, when the lock is fully locked, is dogged by a set of master tumblers 14 and a set of guard tumblers 15. rllhe guard tumblers 15 are lixedly pivoted on the post 'l2 and have noses 16 at their front ends recessed, as at 17, and also have tails 18 at their rear ends adapted to be engaged by the guard key 8 when. operated in key tube 7, whereby these tumblers may be set up so that the` recesses 17 are aligned with each other and with the stump 13 of the bolt plate 9. The master tumblers 14 have slots 19 through which the post 12 extends, whereby forward and rearward displacen'ient is prevented, but permitting the tumblers to pivot from their 'front and rear ends. These tumblers at their front ends have noses 20 recessed, as at 2l, and are pivoted at their rear ends on a pin 22 which is removably positioned through and in. the bottom of the box l, and which extends through any one of a series of perforations 23 provided in the rear ends of the tumblers 14, depending on the position of these tumblers relative to each other and to the pin; Screw 22 has a head 24 exposed on the outside of the bottom of the lock and has a screw threaded portion 25 adjacent the head which is adapted to removably engage in a threaded perforation provided therefor in the bottom of the box 1. These master tumblers 14 when engaged by pin 22, which is the normal condition, are adapted to be set up by means' of the regular key 6 operating in the key tube 5 to align their recesses 21 at their front ends with each other and with the stump 13 on the bolt plate 9 to permit the stump 13 to move into these recesses, provided the guard tumblers have also been set up. The regular key 6 is adapted to retract the bolt plate 9 when the tumblers have been set up by turning the usual cam member 26 which engages a shoulder 27 provided in the bolt plate 9. Upon reverse rotation of the regular key, cam member 26 engages shoulder 28 on the bolt plate 9 to project the bolt and to remove the stump 13 from the tumbler recesses. rlhe master tumblers may be provided with shoulders at their front edges which rest upon the stump 13when the bolt is in locked position.

The master tumblers ofA this lock may be adjusted for any one of'a very great number of different regular keys in the following manner :-There is a special key 29,V

known as a change key, which is adapted to be inserted through a key hole 3() provided therefor in the bottom of the box 1. However, the upper corners 15 of the guard tumbler noses, when the guard tumblers are not set up, extend across the key way and prevent the insertion of the change key into the lock, but when the guard tumblers have been set up, these upper edges are removed from this key way, and the change key may be inserted. Then the change key 29 has been inserted through the key hole 39, it presents bits 31 over the top edges of the master tumblers 14, as at 32. The screw 22 is now removed from the lock with the 1"' result that the rear ends of the tumblers fall to the lower side of the casing due to the action of the tumbler springs 34. The new key 6 is now inserted in the key tube 5 and turned in unlocking direction. This movement` of the new key first raises the front ends of the tumblers 14 againstthe change key to bring their recesses in align.- rnent 'with stump 13, the bits of the change key being fashioned accordingly, and then pivots the master tumblers about their front portions which are pressed upwardly against the change key 29, to move the perF forations 28 at the rear of these tumblers relatively to each other and to the casing into positions corresponding with the particular shape of the bits of the new key. Thus it will be apparent that the tumblers pivot on the change key 29 as they are be ing adjusted into their new positions. lVhen these tumblers have been so adjusted relatively to each other and to the casing by means of the new key,ithe pin 22 is re# placed, and it will be found that the lock has been adjusted for opening by means of the new rey and'Will-no longer respond tothe former-hey iii thebitsof tflie'twvoi keysidiiiter. -As a final oper-ation, t'heenei'vkey is placed in loc'kivngposition and lthe guard key turned to` set up tl'iefgr'iarclltumblers,.and the change r-key -is removed. The change key fcannot be removed'frem the vslot 3 when the guard tumblersare not set 4up, nor can the change key-'beaemoved When the master vtumblersareset :up Idue 'toi the engagement ofthese tumblersintermediate some of the bitsio 'the lchange key.-

'Thebolt plate I9 is lprovided with a -projection which mo'vesaeross the keyiivay 30 When'tliis'plateis ul'ly'retracted. illhen the changey key' is in place, this projection strikes aga-insta bit portion of tl1e'key 29 to limitinovement"and to prevent full retraction, thereby preventing unlocking of the lock vrhile the change key vis in place. This1 is a safety `featurev preventing unauthorized.unlockingof the lo'ck.

It vvill' Vthus be lapparent' that lin a lock of fthe above described construction Athe master tumblers may be adjustedrelatively to eachother and! relative to a point of pivotal supper-tito condition these tumblers for any one of a Very great number of different keys. The lock may also be conditioned for other regular keys by substituting one or more tumblers having their front recesses located at different places in their noses, or their key engaging body portions out to different shape. The lock may also be conditioned for any one of a number of different guard keys by substituting one or more other guard tumblers having front recesses placed differently from the recesses of the removed guard tumblers.

its many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently Widely different embodiments of thisinvention could be made Without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

l. In a lock of the character described, in combination, a casing, a bolt plate, two sets otl tumblers nested together in alternately overlapping relation and coacting with said bolt plate, a removable pivot car-v ried at a lixed point in said casing and enlgagffeable With the tumblers of one set at their rear ends, means for adjusting the rear ends of said tumblers relatively to each other and relatively to said fixed point, said pivot being replaceable to engage and hold the rear ends of said tumblers in their adjusted position for pivoting on said pivot, said means comprising a pivot for the front ends of said tumblers and movable independently of the bolt plate into and out of engagement Withy the tumblersp and a whey for moving said ltumblers on Asaid i front pivot.`

2. In a lock ot' the #characterdescribed, in combination, a casing,y a bolt plate, @two sets of -tumblers nested together in alternately yfoverlapping relation and coacting iivith the bolt plate, a removablepi'vot carried at a fixed point-in said-casing andengageable with the-tumblers of 'ones-etat their rear ends, means for adjusting :the rear-ends ot'said tumblers relativelyto each other and relatively to said lined point,` said pivot being lreplaceable to engagerz yand fhold the rear ends -oin4 lsaid tumblers Vin theirfadjustedposition for pivoting on said pivot, said meanscomprising a pivot tor/fthe liront ends of Asaid tumblers, said' vpivot` being separate :from the bolt plate and removable from the lock, and a1 keyv 'for moving said tumblers onlsaid front pivot.

In a lock of the characterdescribed, incombi-natien, a casing, tivo sets ot tumlers lnested. together in alternately overlapping relation, a removable pi-vot carriedwat a iiXed point in said casingand engageable with the tumblers of' one setv attheir rear ends, means for adjusting the rear ends of said tumblers relatively to each other and relatively to said ixed point, said pivot being replaceable to engage and hold the rear ends of said tuinblers in their adjusted position 'for pivoting on said pivot, said means comprising a key insertible through the bottom of the lock casing and having bits disposable over the top edges et said tumblers toward the front and constituting a pivot for said tumblers, and another key for moving the tumblers against said key bits and pivoting said tumblers thereon.

4. In a lock of the character described, in combination, a bolt plate, a tumbler coacting with the bolt plate, a rear pivot adapted to engage the tumbler releasably and selectively at different points, a front pivot movable independently ot' the bolt plate and adapted to engage the tumbler at another point, said tumbler when engaging the front pivot being movable to place different points in position for engagement by the rear pivot.

5. In a lock o't' the character described, in combination, a bolt plate, a tumbler coacting with the bolt plate, a rear pivot adapted to engage the tumbler releasably and selectively at different points, a front pivot movable independently of the bolt plate and adapted to engage the tumbler at another point, said tumbler when engaging the front pivot being movable to place diierent points in position for engagement by the rear pivot, and a key for moving said tumbler on its front pivot.

6. In a lock of the character described, in combination, a casing, a bolt plate, a tumbler coacting with the bolt plate, a rear pivot removably carried on the casing adapted to engage the tumbler releasably and selectively at different points, and a frontpivot movable independently of the bolt plate and adapted to engage the tumbler at another point, said tumbler` When engaging said front pivot being movable to place different points in position for engagement by said rear pivot when replaced on the casing.

7. In a lock o1- the character described, in combination, a bolt plate, a tumbler coacting with the bolt plate, a rear pivot adapted to engage the tumbler releasably and selectively at different points, a front pivot movable independently of the bolt plate and adapted to engage the tumbler at another point, said tumbler When engaging the front pivot being movable to place different points in position for engagement by the rear pivot, a casing, said front pivot comprising a key insertable through the bottom of the casing and having bits disposable over the top edge of said tumbler toward the front, and another key for moving the tumbler against key bits and pivoting said tumbler thereon.

8. In a lock of the character described, in

combination, a easing, a bolt plate having a stump, a tumbler having at its front a recessed nose abutting said stump, controlling movement of said bolt plate, a series of perorations in the tumbler adjacent its rear end, a removable rear pivot selectively engageable With said tumbler at any one of said perforations in accordance with the relative position of the rear end of the tumbler with respect to the casing, a key for pivoting said tumbler about said pivot to align said front recess with said stump, a change key insertible into said casing and having a bit disposable over the top edge of said tumbler toward its front and constituting a front pivot for said tumbler when said rear pivot is removed, a projection on said bolt plate, and said change key, when so positioned, being in the path of movement of said projection to prevent retraction of said bolt plate into fully retracted position and the unlocking of the lock, until said change key is removed.

This specication signed this 28th day of July, 1924.

EDGAR M. BENHAM. i CHARLES M. man. 

